Are Liberals Born From Conservative Thought?

Are Liberals Born From Conservative Thought? Actually, I thought about titling this article “What the Hell is Wrong with People?” simply because this was the thought that kept running through my mind as I read the letter (below) as well as various articles and comments regarding the letter. I eventually thought better of though. Maybe we can consider it a subtitle. At any rate, before I go any further, what follows is an email I received yesterday.

This was written by a 21 yr old female who gets it. It's her future she’s worried about and this is how she feels about the social welfare big government state that she’s being forced to live in! These solutions are just common sense in her opinion.

This was in the Waco Tribune Herald, Waco , TX Nov 18, 2010

Put me in charge . . .

Put me in charge of food stamps. I'd get rid of Lone Star cards; no cash for Ding Dongs or Ho Ho's, just money for 50-pound bags of rice and beans, blocks of cheese and all the powdered milk you can haul away. If you want steak and frozen pizza, then get a job.

Put me in charge of Medicaid. The first thing I'd do is to get women Norplant birth control implants or tubal ligations. Then, we'll test recipients for drugs, alcohol, and nicotine and document all tattoos and piercings. If you want to reproduce or use drugs, alcohol, smoke or get tats and piercings, then get a job.

Put me in charge of government housing. Ever live in a military barracks?

You will maintain our property in a clean and good state of repair. Your "home" will be subject to inspections anytime and possessions will be inventoried. If you want a plasma TV or Xbox 360, then get a job and your own place.

In addition, you will either present a check stub from a job each week or you will report to a "government" job. It may be cleaning the roadways of trash, painting and repairing public housing, whatever we find for you. We will sell your 22 inch rims and low profile tires and your blasting stereo and speakers and put that money toward the “common good..”

Before you write that I've violated someone's rights, realize that all of the above is voluntary. If you want our money, accept our rules.. Before you say that this would be "demeaning" and ruin their "self esteem," consider that it wasn't that long ago that taking someone else's money for doing absolutely nothing was demeaning and lowered self esteem.

If we are expected to pay for other people's mistakes we should at least attempt to make them learn from their bad choices. The current system rewards them for continuing to make bad choices.

AND, While you are on Gov’t subsistence, you no longer can VOTE! Yes that is correct. For you to vote would be a conflict of interest. You will voluntarily remove yourself from voting while you are receiving a Gov’t welfare check. If you want to vote, then get a job.

To begin with, this letter was not written by a 21-year old female from Texas. It was written by Alfred W. Evans, a retired Army sergeant from Gatesville, Texas. In reading this letter (and many have since it went “viral” throughout the internet last year – Source), I can clearly sense the frustration felt by its author, as well as the authors of the numerous comments. Included in the various comments sections across the web, are liberals spouting forth the usual epithets of “racist,” “hate monger,” “idiot,” etc. In fact, by and large the majority of the comments were either in support (often vehemently) of Mr. Evans proposals or they were against (again, often vehemently) his proposals.

Quite frankly, I find both the letter and the vast majority of comments (both for and against) to be terribly offensive. As far as the comments made by liberals, well, I expect them for the most part. There are some intelligent liberals out there who are not governed by their emotions and their sense of entitlement, and although they still have some odd ideas and philosophies about American politics, at least they are civil when having a conversation. It is the conservatives, however, that truly surprise me. In fact I would say that I am fairly dismayed by what some of the conservatives wrote.

In spite of the obvious frustration that the author of this letter feels, relegating those on welfare to the status of something less than second class citizens is appalling. The author (Mr. Evans) states that if he were “in charge” those receiving food stamps would be allowed to purchase only rice, beans, blocks of cheese, and powdered milk. That’s it. Also on Mr. Evans proposal is forced birth control and sterilization for all women receiving Medicaid, and being gainfully employed would be a mandatory requirement for anyone wishing to reproduce. Margaret Sanger, hero of socialist left, would be very proud of the “conservative” Mr. Evans.

Mr. Evans goes on to advocate the confiscation of personal property and the revocation of the Constitutional right to vote for all who receive welfare benefits. He does attempt to soften his proposal by stating that all of these things would be strictly voluntary, but this is clearly an afterthought on Mr. Evans’s part. An obvious attempt by Mr. Evans to provide himself with an “out” should anyone disagree with him. But this is as obvious as the old “Well, hypothetically speaking” preamble used by those who do not wish to implicate themselves when discussing a distasteful topic. Obviously no one receiving welfare benefits would ever voluntarily submit to these provisions, and it is equally obvious that Mr. Evans truly wants his proposal enacted and enforced by the government.  And that is what I find so disheartening, as Mr. Evans calls himself a conservative.

I will admit that there is massive welfare fraud going on this country, and the welfare system is needs to be revamped and better regulated. There are far too many able bodied men and far too many baby making machines receiving unneeded and undeserved welfare benefits. There are also many who received disability benefits who neither deserve nor need them. I have personally witnessed one “disabled” individual who claimed he could not walk without assistance, and yet when he thought no one was watching, he could walk and run, without any problem whatsoever.

But why would someone who calls himself a conservative allow himself to be so governed by his emotions and be so quick to throw reason and logic out the window, as to say that anyone who receives welfare benefits should be required to meet his proposal? Isn’t that like throwing the baby out with the bath water? There are many people who receive either food stamps or Medicaid or SSI that do so through no real fault of their own. They did not make “bad decisions” as Mr. Evans calls them. Perhaps they lost their job and in spite of a determined effort to find work, have been unable to do so. Don’t forget that the jobless rate is sickeningly high. Perhaps they also have a family to provide for, and because of the economy they cannot. Perhaps they are truly disabled. 

Continue reading here